Valise



June 7, 1955 w. A. RUGE 2,710,082

VALISE Filed Nov. 10 1951 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l wi/ib'??? 06% e %w% v e/W 4m dfivrzggys June 7, 1955 w. A. RUGE 2,710,082

VALISE Filed NOV. 10 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 e/zwenfor wh'am W21 e United States Patent 3 cc 2,710,082 VALISE William A. Ruge, Finds, Application November 10, 1951, Serial No. 255,80 l 5 Claims. (Cl. 190-41) 'My invention relates to cases for earryin gclothes while traveling. Specifically, I have invented a suit case that will transport clothes in a wrinkle free condition.

One of the problems that has plagued man throughout his civilized history has been the diflic'ultyh'e' has always had in keeping himself presentable while travel ing. With theadvent of relatively fast, cle'an forrnsof transportation, such as the present day stream-liner trains,

automobiles and aircraft, the problem has resodved itself largely into one of packaging clothes to keep' them free from the harmful effects of excessive moisture'jin "the air and particularly to protect clothes' against wrinkling".

Many attempts have been made td'devise suitcases or v'alises' that will carry clothes in 'a'wrinkle free condition. Some of these valises have hangers of'special construction that support the clothes" before the bag is closed. The two ends of the bag are brought together'arldi secured for carrying which folds the clothes in their. lbngiobserved bags stacked upside down, sideways and'in every .i-

other conceivable position. I have s'een 'this .d'oneon trains, taxicabs and baggage rooms. 'Whe'ri a'bag of'the type I described above is stacked on its end and it is 'not tightly packed, the clothes in it slide to the. bottom end in'a heap. Obviously clothes that havebeen in'such a condition for any length of time will lnot'be' fit'to wear until they have been pressed and made presentable' "Also this style of'bag is not well adapted to' carrying'a'nytliing longer than a suit coat or the like.

Other types of bags that areaime'd ati'wriiikle free bag. This valise has several drawbacks which tend to I counteract the fact'that it generally holds the clothes nearly flat and wrinkle free. It is a large awkward case for one .thing which makes it unpopular with"many travelers who are not robust enough to handle it' easily.

In the second place it has the same shortcomings 'as',the

previously discussed bag as to the piling" of the clothes if the bag is placed on a supporting surface in anyposition other than an upright one. It will also crush and crease the clothes if it is packed beyond the anticipated capacity. Even a wardrobe trunk will not keep clothes 'free from wrinkling if the trunkis placed on its side, unless the clothes are so closely packed as to make'it likely Patented June 7, 1955 maintaining clothes in-a wrinkle free condition. All of the traveling bags known to me prior to my present invention are also subject to the drawback which requires clothes to be packed in a certain order. In bags prior to my invention, heavy garments are necessarily placed in the bottom or back of the bag to prevent them from mashinglighter, more delicate garments. Thus a woman taking an evening dress and a coat on a trip would necessarily place the coat under the dress. The likely order of use of the coat-and the evening dress are just the reverse of this order of packing, however. While the eveningdress .would be used only for limited periods and under controlled circumstances, the coat might be in demand numerous times during the trip. To get the coat out of the bag requires removing the evening dress also, when a conventional bag is used. Obviously, it would be very advantageous to reverse the conventional orderof packing if that could be done without crushing the delicate lighter garment.

In view of the foregoing, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a valise that will keep clothes in a wrinkle free condition, regardless of the way the valise is handled or positioned.

It is a further objectof my invention to providea valise that avoids wrinkling as a result of overpacking'or crowding the case. I 1 I It is a further object of my invention to provide a valise that will hold long garments in a wrinkle free condition and in a relatively restricted space.

It is'a'still further object of my invention to provide a valise which permits garments to be packed in any order without fear of crushing-lighter garments.

.It is a further objecto f my invention to provide a valise that, will accomplish the objects above indicated, but'whichfwill be easy to pack and unpack.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide a valise that will a ccomplish the objectives hereinbefore indicated and which will still be durable in use, inexpensive to manufacture and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilledintheartfi. Q My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts-of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fullyset forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the exterior of my new valise.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of my new valise taken on the line 22 of Fig. l,

f Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed view of one interior side portion of my new valise together with a fragment of one of the transverse securing bars,

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view-of my;valise taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of my new valise taken on the line 5.5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the transverse holding bars, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of the interior of one side of my valise to fully illustrate the slots in the sides. Referring to the drawings, I have used the numeral 1 6 to designate one exterior end of my valise and the nume'ral 12 to designate its counterpart at the other end. The lower corners 14 of the ends 10 and 1-2 are-rounded on a two to three inch diameten-to provide, the inside of the case with a similar contour; The exterior could be made withsquare corners and the curve onthe inside formed by a separate piece, of course, but the only re.-

that the garments would become wrinkled as a result of ult of so doing would be the use of extra material. The

over packing. In short I know of no bag prior tothe lower front, bottomand-b ackmay be easily formed from one of my present invention that is nearly fool proof 5:; asingle piece of material 16' by reason ofthesc rounded corners. .Theetoplisfiesignatedomrandiseequipped with asuitable handle 20. The 'handle 20 is so positioned on the top of the valise as to 'p'lace a majority of the weight at "packedbag"to the left of the handie as' vi'ewedin Fig. 4 so'1hat-any-tipping o'f' the' bag tends to cause *the bulkt-of the bag'=to'move away frorntheiegs 'of theper- 'son' carrying it. As'shown in Fig. 1,' the upper portion or the*i'Iorward-side is' sloped back at 'anangle to the vertical. This'portion ofthe -front is opened or closed at w'ill' by'means of'- a'door22'whieh is secured to the valise by suitable" hinges24 at'thebottom of the door. Thedoor is also provided' witha suitable catch 26 at'its top. Thus far mybag'is rather similar to many known structures. On theinside-of'iny valise, however, is an entirely new andfditferent'structurefor securing clothes for-wriirkle free transportation, which structure is "my invention.

At 'ea'ch end -of1fithe valise at thelower inside is some means-for securing the-fold former-bars 28 and the lateral position holder bar 30. The means for'securing .theholding'bars. as both-elements28 and 30 arereierred to generally, are the curved'slots '32 and straight slots 34 intake-end 56 at 'end 12. Similar slots arealso provided 'ati-the other-"end. The false wall adjacent end 10 isdesignate'd 38. Fold-formers 2-8 have a'tongue' or boss 40 at one end to engage'theslots 32in-en'd 36. At the other end theformer is providedsvith 'the'eccentric 42 thatis pivotally securedto the forrner in any suitable'rnanner as by the rivet 44. The formersare' curved up at one 'side to 'make'a rollededge 46. The "holders'30'are provided with tonguesdesi'gnated '48 and'eccentrics indicated with the-numeral 50. All'ofthe holding bars are 'alsoprovidedwith oiT-set bends 52as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 which cause theends of the bars'to be at a higher elevation than'-" the center'portion :of' the bars. On the underside of the center portionofthe lateralyposition holder-30 are'sharpene'dprojections or piercingpoints' 54. These points-engage the-material of a garment su'ch as the. coat-56 shown in Fig. 5"to secure it against lateral sliding movement. ?Nearthe (up inside 'ofthe valise is the'hanging' rod--58"which receives the hooks 6010f a hanger on'which the top of coat '56'issupported. Iidesired, the bottomofthe bagnray "be held above 'a'supporting surface such as the one designated 62 by means o'fimetal buttons -or'-glides 64.

'A-person who -'wishes to "pack a' garment in my valise first 1 opens "door '22 which-makes the interior of the valise *acces'sible. -A hangenprovided for use in the valise is inserted into the shoulders of the. garment. Afterlthe garment shouldersare on-th'e hanger, it is' hung on the rod 58. A fold former is then used to urgethe garment back 'intoxthe bag. 'When'the garment has reached a point that approximates its "natural :uncompressed position a gainst'theirear' curve'of the bagbottom, the fold former tongue'is insertedin an appropriate slot on one side of the bag and'the opposite end'of' the former is depressed until it aligns 'withthe corresponding slot on the other side of' the bag. 'The eccentric is then rotated to engage its slot and the former is secured in position. A similar procedure is followed with the lateral positionholder 30. It will be seen by'examining Fig. 5 that the off-set bends in the holder'barsprovide extra space forthetsleeves ofthe garment, if it is a bulky one'such as a coat-or the like. Although these on sets are not necessary-for short-slee-ved ordong-sleeved light weight garments, they done harm and are available when needed with long-sleeved garments made from heavy material. In the case-of a very long garment sech as-an eveningdress-or along coat, "the lower portions are 'sinuously twined back'and' forth over the fold terriers as'shown iii-Fig.4. "'The fold'formers and "the lateralposition' holdernot onlyhold the layers of cloth in'g under them 'down,-but also support'the upper layers of clothing to prevent the upper layers frorn'bearing down onthelowerones. For this -reasomthe orderin'which ,garments,are,packed.in-my valiseisrentirelyrunimportant as far as causing any one. of them to be crushed and wrinkled is concerned. This leaves the packer absolutely free to pack the bag in any way that appeals to 6 him. The garments that will be in most demand may be placed to the front without fear of crushing delicate clothes in the rear.

If desired, a pants or .skirtcpress may be used to grip the lower end of a long-garment after it has been folded over the third told former and thereby. suspend the lower end of the garment adjacent the upper portion. This suggestedwmethod of securing the lower'portion ofgarments is not considered;inventive; however, and is neither shown nor claimed. The invention resides in the fold formers which make possible these various forms of suspending garments in a wrinkle-free crush-proof manner. The lateral position of the garments is retained by the piercing points'on the lateralposition holder 30. These piercing points'alsomaybeused onthe .fold formers if'desired. My 'experiencehas been 'that these' piercing points LaIC necessary "only on'oneof-these transverse :elements to "holdihe"clothesima'fixed positionlaterally inthe suitcase. It should beiclear that I'have provided meansffor hoiding'the'clothes'in'my valise against wrinkling'by reason ofslidingin "any direction and regardless of the positionior attitude 'th'e bagassumes in. the course'ofbeing handled. Furthermore, I have provided a bag that-will handle long' garments 'in'a relatively small space without wrinkling. "In "addition, I have made provision in my newbagforpreventing.clothes in the back and bottom of the .bag from being crushed by-other clothes in front oron'top of thosefirst placed in'the bag. The area intli'e 'bagidirectly'in the *rear of door 22 and above the clothes folded'over the 'folder'formers is available for use as a place toipack'access'ories' such as shoes and the like. The exact"'structure for supporting these accessories in this space does HOlZICOIJStitIllIC part of this invention, however, and is neither'sh'own nor claimed.

From the foregoing it is .clear "that I have invented a valise that will. accomplish all the objcctsof my invention as set out'above.

.Sorne "changes'may be made in the construction and arrangement:of'my'valise without departing from the real spirit"and-purpose .ofmy'invention, and it is my intention to cover by.my claims, .any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included'iwithin their scope.

I'claim:

1.' In a valise, a container with a closable openingatid having its 'twolbottom' side. edges curved on a 'radius of at; least .two inches, a hanger support secured, near-[the inside top of said container, and a bar detachablysecured near one-of the curved-bottom side edges of .saidcontainer; said bar secured on the inside of said container and extending across substantially the entire Widthof said container.

.2; 'In avalise, a container with a closableopening and having its two bottom side edges curved onairadius of :at. least two inches, a hanger support securedneanthe inside top of said container, and a bar member detachablyfsecured at'its ends to 'theinside ends of said container. and extending parallel to the bottom thereof, at least one sharpened.P ojection-secured to the bottom of said bar and extending downwardly therefrom.

3. In a valise, a .container with a closable openingand having its two bottom side edges curved ona radius of at least two inches, a hanger support secured :ncartthe inside top of said container, and a bar detachablysecured near'one of the curved bottom side edgesof said .container; said bar secured on theinside ofsaid containerand extendingacross substantially the entire width ofsaid container; 'sai'd bar having its edge portion .nearer said curved bottom side edges curved.

4. In a valise, a container with a closable opening and 75 having "its bottomside edges curved on a radius of at least two inches, a pair of slots one in each end of said container, a bar of a length to substantially extend from one inside end of said container to the other, a plurality of piercing points secured to and extending down from the bottom of said bar, a tongue formed on one end of said bar to slidably engage one of said slots, and a member movably secured to the other end of said bar for movement selectively beyond the other end of said bar to engage the slot in the other end of said container and retracted from beyond the other end of said bar to disengage said member from the slot in the other end of said container.

5. In a valise, a container having an open side, a means for closing said open side at times, a plurality of bars, and a means for detachably securing said bars in said container parallel to and spaced from the bottom and sides thereof; said detachable securing means securing different ones of said bars spaced from the bottom and sides of said container at various distances, at least some of said bars having piercing points rigidly secured to the bottom thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hoyt July 29, 1890 Walker Dec. 19, 1893 Behrman Jan. 3, 1905 Fink Sept. 12, 1911 Hawley July 25, 1916 Videgaray Jan. 8, 1918 Eggert Aug. 8, 1922 De Luca May 1, 1928 Bee Sept 3, 1929 Butterick June 6, 1933 Wheary et a1 Apr. 10, 1934 Giessler Oct. 2, 1934 Kress May 12, 1936 Hormes Sept; 26, 1944 Ruge July 24, 1951 

